FSU calls audible, suspends Winston for Clemson game

Clemson’s chances of upsetting defending national champion Florida State got 50 percent better on Friday, when the Seminoles decided to suspend its start quarterback for the entire game instead of only the first half.

Florida State officials announced Friday night that they have increased the length of quarterback Jameis Winston’s suspension to an entire game, which means he will not play at all when the No. 1 Seminoles face No. 22 Clemson on Saturday.

Originally the school had suspended Winston, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, for just the first half of the Clemson game after his profane outburst on campus earlier this week.

“Based upon the results of our continuing investigation of Tuesday’s incident involving Jameis Winston, we have decided to not play him for the entire game against Clemson on Saturday night,” interim Florida State president Garnett S. Stokes and athletic director Stan Wilcox said in a joint statement.

As a result, backup quarterback Sean Maguire, a sophomore who has completed 16 of his 26 attempts in his Florida State career, will not only start against the Tigers but will probably play the entire game for the Seminoles.

On Tuesday, Winston was seen shouting an obscene sexual phrase at the campus student center. Stokes and Wilcox called Winston’s behavior “offensive and vulgar” when they announced Winston would be suspended for a half. Winston apologized for the incident.

“First of all, I want to apologize to the university, my coaches and to my teammates,” Winston said after the original penalty was announced. “I’m not a ‘me’ person, but in that situation, it was a selfish act, and that’s not how you do things around here. I want to apologize to my teammates because I have now made a selfish act for them. That’s all.”

Tuesday’s incident was latest in a series of off-the-field incidents involving Winston. He was investigated for sexual assault in 2013, although he was never charged. Nonetheless, Florida State is continuing its Title IX investigation into the alleged incident.

Winston was suspended from the baseball team for three games last spring and ordered to perform 20 hours of community service after being cited for stealing $32 of crab legs from a grocery store.